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Violence, recrimination and arrests after policeman's death in Glen View - Index of articles
Glen View defence lawyer describes State counsel as farce
Movement
for Democratic Change
February
26, 2013
The defence
lawyers in the trial of the 29 MDC members
who are facing false murder charges have described as a farce
the way the State is handling and delaying in bringing its final
witness to testify at the High Court.
The charges were made
today during the trial before Justice Chinembiri Bhunu when the
State again failed to explain why for the past six months it had
failed in subpoenaing a Cuban pathologist.
The pathologist, Dr Alveiro-Aguero
carried out a post-mortem of the Petros Mutedza.
The delay by the State
in bringing the Cuban, Dr Alviero-Aguero has resulted in the case
failing to be concluded and seriously affecting the day-to-day lives
of the 29 members.
Five of them Last Maengahama,
an MDC national executive member, Harare councillor, Tungamirai
Madzokera, Simon Mapanzure, Yvonne Musarurwa and Rebecca Mafukeni
are in remand prison under filthy conditions at Chikurubi Maximum
Security Prison after they were denied bail last week. They have
been in remand prison for over 21 months since their arrest in May
2011.
The State has been coming
up with never-ending excuses on why the pathologist was failing
to come and stand as a State witness.
Various reasons have
been offered by the State counsel, Edmore Nyazamba including that
there was need for the Cuban government through the Zimbabwe Ministry
of Foreign Affairs to approve the move since the pathologist holds
a diplomatic passport.
Yesterday, Innocent Muchini,
who was standing in for Nyazamba, said the State will today call
one Mr Ncube from the Foreign Affairs Ministry and Assistant Commissioner
Godfrey Munyonga to explain the reasons why the Cuban national was
not available to give evidence after defence lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa
opposed the prosecution application to postpone the matter to March
6 this year.
Justice Chinembiri Bhunu
ruled in favour of the defence saying the court could not rely on
hearsay evidence.
Both Ncube and Munyonga
failed to turn up in court with police sending in Superintendent
Jeremiah Nhamo Murenje to stand in for Munyonga. Ncube was reported
to be attending a workshop.
Murenje failed to explain
to the court why the police were failing to get a subpoena for the
pathologist in the past six months but failed to give a satisfactory
answer.
The defence counsel attacked
the behaviour of the State and police describing it as a farce.
"It seems as we
have one law for the State witnesses and another for everyone, as
Ncube should be here but is attending a workshop. It seems they
are above the law," said Mtetwa.
Justice Bhunu ordered
to the State to bring in correspondences between the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the police in their attempts to plead with the
Cuban government to allow the doctor to stand as a State witness.
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